Turner heading for Colts

Former Bears offensive coordinator likely to coach Manning’s targets

February 27, 2010|By Brad Biggs, Tribune reporter

INDIANAPOLIS — Ron Turner wasn't out of the NFL for long.

Four weeks after becoming the offensive coordinator at Stanford, Turner is back in the league, accepting a job on the Colts' staff. It is believed Turner will become the wide receivers coach, but the team had yet to make an announcement.

Speculation in league circles is that wide receivers/assistant head coach Clyde Christensen will be promoted to offensive coordinator and veteran coordinator Tom Moore will retire. Moore retired briefly at this time last year, and coach Jim Caldwell promoted Christensen to take his place. Now the move could be happening for good, creating the opening for Turner.

The former Bears offensive coordinator had looked for an NFL job, but when few head coaching changes were made after the season, there weren't many help wanted signs across the league. He hooked up with former Bears quarterback Jim Harbaugh at Stanford, where Turner coached previously. Now he will have a job with a team that has had continuity with assistants and has a four-time MVP in quarterback Peyton Manning.

On the mend: Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen said his surgically repaired right big toe checked out well in medical evaluations, and he is on target to do all drills at his April 9 pro day at the school.

"(The medical process) took quite a bit of time," Clausen said. "They said it looks really good and it's healing. They told me to take my time and not push it too much. I played the rest of the season taking painkillers. All they told me was it was turf toe. I had to gut it out for my team."

Clausen had two tendons reattached. The first teams he met with at the combine Friday night were the Bills and Redskins, both believed to be considering a quarterback in the first round.

His is not the only high-profile arm that will not be on display when quarterbacks work out Sunday. Oklahoma's Sam Bradford, considered a possibility for the Rams at No. 1, and Texas' Colt McCoy will not participate.

Bradford said his right shoulder checked out fine after his AC joint was reconstructed and he threw more than 100 passes in a recent session. He will throw at his pro day March 25. Bradford was asked if his Native American ancestry would stir him to ask the Redskins not to draft him.

"Uh, no," he replied.

McCoy said nothing is structurally wrong with his right shoulder after his injury in the BCS title game. He suffered a nerve problem in the deltoid, the outside muscle of the shoulder, and is rehabilitating well for his pro day March 31. There's one thing he can't change, though.

"My height (6-1 1/4) is a knock," he admitted. "It is."

Size matters: McCoy wasn't the only player fielding questions about his height. Michigan's Brandon Graham, the Tribune Silver Football co-winner this past season, checked in at 6-1, 268 pounds. It's on the short side for an end or outside linebacker.

But as he points out, Elvis Dumervil collected 17 sacks for the Broncos last season at 5-11, 248. That's what the combine becomes at times, a focus on everything but football.

"I asked (scouts) what they wanted to see from me because I'm so small, what did they want to see during the combine," Graham said. "They told me to be me and go out there and work hard.''

Looking for a shot: Case Western Reserve quarterback Dan Whalen showed up without an invitation Saturday. He's trying to generate some interest in his pro day March 12 at Ohio State. He led the Division III school to 31 consecutive regular-season victories, passing for 9,720 yards in his career.

"I'd give my left arm to throw here, you know what I mean, and save my right (throwing) one," Whalen said.

Whalen's agent, Ronald Todd, has a knack for delivering the unknown. He brought an unknown pass rusher from Central (Ohio) State here before. Hugh Douglas turned into a a first-round pick and a tremendous pro.

Whalen won't be drafted, but he is yearning for a chance.

"Given the opportunity, I'll make a team, and I can say that with confidence, I believe," he said. "This is my box here (referring to a space outside the media room). I want a chance."

Whalen is working out four hours a day and spending another five hours a day in the classroom to ensure he earns an English degree in May.

New wave: NFL teams are being exposed to the next frontier of digital data at the combine thanks to the efforts of a company called IdentityMine, which in conjunction with Northbrook-based STATS has developed a new way to catalog player information.

The Saints already are using the Interactive, Collaboration and Evaluation (ICE) system. Instead of using magnets on a board and hard copy files, it's completely digital and includes game video as well as X-info — statistics and plays that are tracked exclusively by STATS.

Other teams are lining up to get in on the system, which costs about $180,000 to install. The Bears probably will not take part because they already have an elaborate digital system that former pro personnel man Bobby DePaul and team information technology specialist Brian Wright designed.